Posted October 09, 2014
I've been trying not to bump this thread to the top every time I beat a game, so here's a roundup of what I've completed since I last posted.
Loren - The Amazon Princess
Steam
RPG by Winterwolves, better known for dating sim-style games. Their lack of experience shows in the combat, which becomes quite dull after a while, and in the plot, which is deeply formulaic. The dialog was OK, but all the "narrative" writing was stilted and mediocre. I thought I got this as part of the Winter Wolves bundle, but Google claims that it wasn't included in that bundle, meaning I probably got it from Steam during a half-off sale, for about ten bucks. That's fine; but I would be reluctant to pay full price for the sequel, when it comes out.
Victim of Xen
Steam
Weird little RPG Maker thing. The male protagonist is changed into a woman by a malicious and whimsical witch named Xen, and tries to get turned back. It's in better taste than some attempts to use that plot, but is terribly disjointed, without any real central plot--there's the sex change thing, and there's a war, and a price who needs to reclaim his throne, and seven or so mystical orbs that must be collected, and nothing really seems to have anything to do with anything else. Also, the store that sells the best weapon in the game is available almost immediately. It's supposed to be priced out of the player's reach at the time, but a sufficiently bored player (i.e. me, at the time of playing) can grind for them surprisingly quickly.
Whatever. I thought it was cute enough at the time, and it was cheap. I wouldn't actually recommend it to anyone, but I don't regret it.
Neverending Nightmare
Steam (via Kickstarter reward)
I'll just copy-and-paste the review I posted.
Neverending Nightmare is an indie surrealism/horror game developed by Matt Gilgenbach.
This game might be best described as "exploration horror"; you wander around various creepy environments, drinking in the visuals and the music as the tension mounts, punctuated by the occasional (generally well-timed and well-done) jump scare. There are monsters, which have to be avoided, and they are appropriately creepy, but this isn't Amnesia or Clock Tower; the game is easy by design (on the theory, I think, that having to do the same section over and over isn't so so much scary as annoying). The music is excellent, instilling a real sense of unease (this is one of relatively few games where I'd actually listen to the soundtrack, if only one were included), and the art style is interesting, unique (well, it's clearly mimicking Edward Gorey, so in a sense that's the opposite of unique, but at least you don't see many other games using it), and generally effective. The story branches, with different levels and endings.
But.
But but but.
Your character moves frustratingly slowly, and the movement animations are horribly amateurish. There is a run function, which will cause him to do a regrettable and hilarious slow-jog ... thing ... for about ten feet while making exaggerated panting noises. There's no animation for walking straight downward, so if you do that, your character will sort of float in that direction while his legs move as if he's walking forward. And while the art style works in general, I just can't get over the character model for the protagonist; he looks ridiculous.
To get the different endings, you have to replay levels. Silent Hill and Amnesia, which have strong game-play elements, can get away with this better than Neverending Nightmare, which relies so heavily on pure atmosphere.
The game is short, maybe two hours. This is intentional (a longer game would need a stronger central gameplay mechanic), but some gamers might want more for the price.
Anodyne
GOG (you'd think this was the Steam forums from the way we've been going so far. A consequence of Steam having a client that makes it really easy, when I don't have something to play, to glance through my Steam backlog and pick something, as opposed to GOG, who's slow-loading library doesn't lend itself well to such a thing. Well, that and Neverending Nightmare being most easily redeemable for backers as a Steam key.)
I think the "plot" of this game is basically a put-upon, of the "You know this game is deep because it's incomprehensible" sort; you're trying to collect cards for ... some reason so you can ... something about a "Briar." I don't know. The gameplay is Zelda-esque, although only having one weapon and one ability (jumping) means a fairly straight-forward experience--although the platforming can be frustrating at times. It manages a fairly solid, unsettling atmosphere, so points for that.
edit:
Skyborn
Steam
A JRPG-maker game of much higher quality than Victim of Xen. Its limited resource design--monsters are finite and do not respawn, so gold and money are both finite--drove me crazy, although ultimately there's so much gold available that my economy was unnecessary. Pretty standard plot and characters, but solidly put together.
Loren - The Amazon Princess
Steam
RPG by Winterwolves, better known for dating sim-style games. Their lack of experience shows in the combat, which becomes quite dull after a while, and in the plot, which is deeply formulaic. The dialog was OK, but all the "narrative" writing was stilted and mediocre. I thought I got this as part of the Winter Wolves bundle, but Google claims that it wasn't included in that bundle, meaning I probably got it from Steam during a half-off sale, for about ten bucks. That's fine; but I would be reluctant to pay full price for the sequel, when it comes out.
Victim of Xen
Steam
Weird little RPG Maker thing. The male protagonist is changed into a woman by a malicious and whimsical witch named Xen, and tries to get turned back. It's in better taste than some attempts to use that plot, but is terribly disjointed, without any real central plot--there's the sex change thing, and there's a war, and a price who needs to reclaim his throne, and seven or so mystical orbs that must be collected, and nothing really seems to have anything to do with anything else. Also, the store that sells the best weapon in the game is available almost immediately. It's supposed to be priced out of the player's reach at the time, but a sufficiently bored player (i.e. me, at the time of playing) can grind for them surprisingly quickly.
Whatever. I thought it was cute enough at the time, and it was cheap. I wouldn't actually recommend it to anyone, but I don't regret it.
Neverending Nightmare
Steam (via Kickstarter reward)
I'll just copy-and-paste the review I posted.
Neverending Nightmare is an indie surrealism/horror game developed by Matt Gilgenbach.
This game might be best described as "exploration horror"; you wander around various creepy environments, drinking in the visuals and the music as the tension mounts, punctuated by the occasional (generally well-timed and well-done) jump scare. There are monsters, which have to be avoided, and they are appropriately creepy, but this isn't Amnesia or Clock Tower; the game is easy by design (on the theory, I think, that having to do the same section over and over isn't so so much scary as annoying). The music is excellent, instilling a real sense of unease (this is one of relatively few games where I'd actually listen to the soundtrack, if only one were included), and the art style is interesting, unique (well, it's clearly mimicking Edward Gorey, so in a sense that's the opposite of unique, but at least you don't see many other games using it), and generally effective. The story branches, with different levels and endings.
But.
But but but.
Your character moves frustratingly slowly, and the movement animations are horribly amateurish. There is a run function, which will cause him to do a regrettable and hilarious slow-jog ... thing ... for about ten feet while making exaggerated panting noises. There's no animation for walking straight downward, so if you do that, your character will sort of float in that direction while his legs move as if he's walking forward. And while the art style works in general, I just can't get over the character model for the protagonist; he looks ridiculous.
To get the different endings, you have to replay levels. Silent Hill and Amnesia, which have strong game-play elements, can get away with this better than Neverending Nightmare, which relies so heavily on pure atmosphere.
The game is short, maybe two hours. This is intentional (a longer game would need a stronger central gameplay mechanic), but some gamers might want more for the price.
Anodyne
GOG (you'd think this was the Steam forums from the way we've been going so far. A consequence of Steam having a client that makes it really easy, when I don't have something to play, to glance through my Steam backlog and pick something, as opposed to GOG, who's slow-loading library doesn't lend itself well to such a thing. Well, that and Neverending Nightmare being most easily redeemable for backers as a Steam key.)
I think the "plot" of this game is basically a put-upon, of the "You know this game is deep because it's incomprehensible" sort; you're trying to collect cards for ... some reason so you can ... something about a "Briar." I don't know. The gameplay is Zelda-esque, although only having one weapon and one ability (jumping) means a fairly straight-forward experience--although the platforming can be frustrating at times. It manages a fairly solid, unsettling atmosphere, so points for that.
edit:
Skyborn
Steam
A JRPG-maker game of much higher quality than Victim of Xen. Its limited resource design--monsters are finite and do not respawn, so gold and money are both finite--drove me crazy, although ultimately there's so much gold available that my economy was unnecessary. Pretty standard plot and characters, but solidly put together.
Post edited October 10, 2014 by BadDecissions
